Control Freak
by Amrita Glittersong
Summary: ObiWan and Anakin get themselves into trouble yet again and make their escape in a speeder. This time, though, ObiWan is at the controls and Anakin begins to think he and his master aren't quite as different in the area of flying as he thought. Nonslash


Notes: My first SW ficcy; just a fun short story with a little action. I'm mostly trying to get a feel for writing for this fandom before I try anything serious, and humor/action is my favorite, anyway. So, this idea came about since I thought it was interesting that Obi was/is apparently a pretty good pilot (and even liked flying, gasp) when he was younger, and so I wanted to do a fun fic on that combined with his 'hatred of flying'. As for timeframe, it's sort of ambiguous. Just after AOTC was what I had in mind, but it'll work for almost any time. Also, please excuse any spelling mistakes... My spellchecker froze once it reached 'Windu', so I checked by hand. I hope you enjoy.

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**Control Freak  
**By: Amrita Glittersong

"Anakin, I would appreciate it if you would listen to me at _some_ point in the future before I go entirely grey." Obi-Wan commented lightly, his tone unaffected by the fact that he was running full-tilt down one of the crowded, dank streets of lower-level Coruscant, dodging beings of every species imaginable while making sure his padawan was still following him.

"Master, you have _one _grey hair. Just because Master Windu likes to point it out every time he sees you doesn't mean anything; he's not one to talk about hair of any color." The afforementioned padawan, Anakin Skywalker, commented in the same casual tone as he kept pace with the other Jedi. "And I do listen to you." He managed a quick smirk in Obi-Wan's direction, not losing stride for a moment. "I just don't _obey_ you."

"Semantics." Obi-Wan responded, glancing around to ensure they were going in the right direction. He was about to look back to see if their pursuers were still after them when a stray, terribly aimed blaster bolt shot over his head, missing by almost a meter. "They're still following us."

"Remind me again why we're _running_ instead of _fighting_, master?" Anakin said, his tone casual as if they were talking about nothing of any real importance, but laced with just the right amount of innocence as he knew what the answer was going to be.

"Because." Obi-Wan responded, sounding just the slightest bit snippy. Anyone who hadn't known Obi-Wan for long would have missed the small change in inflection, but Anakin picked up on it and just smirked broadly.

"Because why?" Anakin asked, enjoying himself far too much.

"Don't push it, padawan." Obi-Wan responded, beginning to get a vaguely annoyed look on his usually composed face. "We will discuss this once we get back to the Temple."

"Sure." Anakin said with a laugh. "Whatever." Considering how many lectures Anakin had recieved on the care of lightsabres, the fact that Obi-Wan was, for once, behind the fact that both of their lightsabres had been rendered useless amused Anakin to no end. He would never let Obi-Wan live this down. Ever.

They were nearing their speeder; a light blue, open cockpitted model that had been given to them by the Council so that they would stop stealing speeders from senators or the Temple. Especially considering they, or rather Anakin, had a tendency to return the latter in less than pristine condition. Jedi weren't to have posessions, of course, but the Council had decided an exception was alright, just this once. Anakin thought it was probably because they just wanted to stop having to divert money from their squishy-council-chair-cushion-fund to replace the other speeders.

Obi-Wan, having the lead and being slightly faster than his Padawan, lept into the speeder before Anakin had reached it. The knight turned back to make sure Anakin would join him, and promptly winced in sympathy pain as Anakin tripped and fell flat on his face on the duracrete. Anakin, still growing at twenty years old, had been recently undergoing a bout of clumsiness; nothing unusual, and something that even Jedi were unable to always avoid. And for a Jedi, just as with any other being in the galaxy, that akwardness always had to show itself at just the worst time.

"I'm okay." Anakin commented from his position on the sidewalk. "Just a mishap."

Obi-Wan sighed and jumped out of the speeder, seeing their pursuers rapidly approaching, and hauled Anakin gracelessly off the street before shoving him into the speeder and following after him. As Anakin was looking slightly dazed from his unexpected close-up with the duracrete, Obi-Wan nudged him into the passenger's seat and took up the pilot's seat himself, turning on the engine and taking off just before the angry group chasing caught up.

"I wanted to drive." Anakin whined as they pulled into one of the many traffic lanes, all the while rubbing his now-bruised nose.

"I want to make it to the Temple without feeling ill." Obi-Wan responded, watching the traffic carefully as he obeyed all the airspeed laws and not sparing a glance in Anakin's direction. "It's my turn to get what I want."

"You're not any fun at all, Master." Anakin continued to complain. "In fact, you're the opposite of fun."

"And what would that be?" Obi-Wan asked blandly, not paying much attention to the conversation as he was getting the feeling they hadn't made as clean of an escape as it had seemed.

"...Not-fun." Anakin responded after a moment of consideration. "That's what you are."

Obi-Wan bothered to look over at Anakin for a moment, an eyebrow raised. "That's the best you can think of?"

"Yes." Anakin said, crossing his arms and slouching in the seat. "Besides, I don't need anything better, it's an accurate enough descrip-" He broke off as blaster fire struck the back of their speeder, doing nothing worse than scorching off some paint but effectively drawing the two Jedi out of their conversation. "Hey! They followed us!"

"Obviously." Obi-Wan said dryly. "Where are they?" He asked, keeping his eyes on the lanes as a good pilot should and trusting Anakin to relay the information to him.

"About twenty meters back." Anakin said, having turned around in his seat to watch the rapidly approaching crimson colored speeder. "I'm surprised they could hit from that distance, with how bad of shots they are."

"As am I. Though if they resume the less-than-accurately-aimed-firing they were doing before, it could be dangerous for the other pilots." Obi-Wan commented, frowning ever so slightly as he contemplated his next action.

"Let me drive. I'll lose 'em." Anakin said confidently, looking back over at his master. "I can do it."

"I'm sure you could, but we're not switching seats while flying." Obi-Wan responded, as another round of shots were fired from the nearing speeder. They all went wide, thankfully missing any other speeders as well. "I can manage this."

Anakin scoffed at Obi-Wan's still-legal flying. "Yeah, sure you can, he-who-obeys-traffic-laws-perfec-WHOA!" He was taken by surprise as their speeder suddenly changed direction, rocketing out to the right in a turn that was banked so sharply they were turned nearly fully horizontal. Obi-Wan evened them out as they left the normal traffic lanes and their pursuers followed. At least the other, innocent pilots wouldn't be in the line of fire now.

"I was just turning, Anakin." Obi-Wan said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world and not totally unexpected from him. Anakin had once told him that he took turns so carefully that they could set a glass of water on the hood and not lose a drop, and the padawan certainly hadn't forseen such a... Well, _himself-like_ manuever. "Don't look so surprised."

Anakin was about to reply with what he was sure was an incredibly witty comeback when they were again the subject of a salvo of blaster fire. A barrell roll that had Anakin holding onto the door of the speeder for dear life got them clear of the laser bolts. The padawan twitched slightly. "What are you _doing_?"

"Dodging."

"You're flying like _me_."

"Relax, Anakin." Obi-Wan said, his voice seeming just as calm and steady as it would be if he were talking about something as trivial as the weather. Anakin, however, was sure he heard the slightest hint of satisfied amusement. "You _are_ the one who tells me to stop 'being so stuffy' when I fly, aren't you?"

"Yes." Anakin admitted begrudgingly. "But I never expected you would ever listen. I thought you hated flying."

"I've told you, I don't hate flying." Obi-Wan replied, turning them in another barrell roll to miss a hail of blaster fire. "I hate being a passenger when _you're_ flying."

"Ouch, master. You've wounded me." Anakin commented, placing a hand over his heart for effect.

"My sincerest apologies." Obi-Wan said, and now Anakin was sure the amusement was there. He caught a glimspe of what could nearly be considered a smirk on Obi-Wan's face as the older Jedi expertly threaded the speeder between a pair of holographic billboards.

Anakin looked over at him. "You're getting way too much satisfaction out of this."

"You have no idea."

Anakin rolled his eyes and turned slightly to see if the other speeder was still following, a bit surprised to see that it was. "How persistant _are_ they? That kriffing drink wasn't _that_ expensive!"

"Language, Anakin." Obi-Wan responded, though he hardly sounded concerned. Anakin wasn't sure whether to feel his usual annoyance at his master's annoyingly calm state or to just be amazed that Obi-Wan had managed such a state while flying. "Besides, I don't believe it was the expense of the drink, but rather that you threw it at them. With the Force."

"They had it coming." Anakin said, ducking as Obi-Wan flew the speeder close under another board.

"The Force is not to be used for such things." Obi-Wan said, managing to frown disapprovingly in the moment he spared to glance at Anakin before looking forward again so he could safely guide their speeder through a gap between buildings. "Not to mention that you shouldn't be throwing drinks at bar patrons, with the Force or otherwise."

"Like I said," Anakin replied, beginning to enjoy the crazy ride just for the fact that Obi-Wan was doing all the same stunts he had told Anakin, usually in a loud and un-Jedi-like voice, not to do. "They had it coming."

"And what exactly did they do to invoke your wrath?" Obi-Wan inquired, sending the speeder into a backflip before causing it to nose-dive a short distance in order to slip under the next level of streets and buildings.

Anakin fidgeted a bit at the question. "...They were being annoying."

"...That's all?"

"Yes."

"That's hardly deserving of a Force-thrown drink."

"Well, they were _really_ annoying."

"Really."

"Yeah. Really, really."

"In what way?"

"...Just really."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. "How informative."

Anakin smiled innocently, before looking back to see if they were still being followed. He wasn't certain whether to be pleased or disappointed that it seemed they had lost them with the latest stunt. "It doesn't matter anyway; I think you threw them off."

"Good." Obi-Wan responded, looking back to confirm Anakin's words before blending seamlessly back into the traffic lanes of Coruscant like nothing had ever happened. They flew in silence for a few moments, before Anakin spoke up again.

"So, why don't you do anything like that more often?"

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow again. "What?"

"The flying! I felt a true kinship with you, for once. There may be hope you yet."

"I'm not certain whether to be flattered or dismayed."

Anakin sighed, rolling his eyes in amusement, undeterred. "No, I mean it. I knew you were a good pilot in a starfighter, but I didn't know you could fly a speeder like that. Why don't you do that sort of thing more often?"

"I don't want to encourage you." Obi-Wan responded, gaining the smallest hint of a smirk to his expression.

"No reason to go all out and say you hate flying entirely."

"Oh no, Anakin, I meant it when I said I hated flying when _you're_ piloting. I don't necessarily enjoy flying in every other instance, but it's much better when I'm not subject to your piloting."

"You're such a control freak." Anakin said with a defeated sigh, though he did feel some odd satisfaction in the fact that he and his master apparently weren't as different in the subject of flying as he'd thought. Maybe he could convince Obi-Wan to let him teach him some starfighter stunts now. And to decorate their quarters in the Temple with ship designs. And to hang a pointy model ship in their doorway at just the right height for certain unsuspecting council members to smack their heads on whenever they entered. He could see it now.

Obi-Wan didn't bother responding to that comment, as they had reached the Temple. They landed neatly in the hanger, climbing out of the speeder to survey the damage the blaster shots had done.

"Could be worse." Anakin remarked. "Just some scorching. A small replacement of the metal in the areas hit and a new paint job and it'll be good as new."

Obi-Wan nodded absently. "You know..." He said, considering the speeder. "I'm not certain why the Council thought giving us a speeder of our own would mean _less_ repairs..."

"I do!" Anakin exclaimed, dramatically flopping partially onto the hood of the speeder and doing something that only vaguely resembled hugging it. "Because it's my BABY."

"...Alright, then. Are you certain you didn't hit your head too hard on the duracrete?" Obi-Wan ventured, watching his padawan. If it had been anyone else he would have herded them to the healers right away, but sadly, this wasn't all that unusual behavior for Anakin. It was quite embarassing at times.

"Nah, I'm good." Anakin said, straightening back up.

"...If you say so, padawan."

"I do." Anakin confirmed. "I just like seeing yor face when I do that." He began to lead the way from the hanger into the Temple. "Now, I had this great idea that involved a model starfighter, some string, and Master Windu's head..."


End file.
